April 28, 2007
New York, N.Y. - Former Stanford football players Trent Edwards and Michael Okwo were selected on the first day of the 2007 NFL Draft on Saturday. Edwards selected by the Buffalo Bills in the third round (92nd pick overall) before Okwo was taken by the Chicago Bears just two selections later in same round as 94th overall pick.
Edwards finished his Stanford career ranked among the school's all-time leaders in pass completions (487, 6th), pass attempts (865, 6th), passing yards (5429, 7th), total offense (5628, 7th), touchdown passes (36, 7th) and completion percentage (56.3, 487-865, 10th). He played in 35 games with 31 of those appearances coming in a starting role. He also added 199 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground.
Edwards played in just seven games during his 2006 senior season before suffering an injury to his right foot in the seventh contest of the campaign against Arizona that ended his collegiate career and an 18-game consecutive start streak. He finished his shortened season with 1027 yards in the air by completing 94-of-156 passes with six TD's and six interceptions. He had started the promising campaign on the Davey O'Brien Watch List for an award that is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback. Edwards was also a Preseason First Team (The Sporting News) and Second Team (Athlon, Steele's) All-Pac-10 selection, as well as an honorable mention All-American choice (Street & Smith's).
Edwards' top statistical season came in 2005 when he passed for 1934 yards and 17 touchdowns with only seven interceptions and a 62.7 completion percentage (168-of-268) that ranks 10th on the school's single-season list. He also had his top passing yardage game as a collegian during the season when he registered 303 yards through the air versus Arizona State.
He also passed for 1718 yards on 148-of-271 passing with nine TD's and 11 picks as a sophomore in 2004, as well as 750 yards on 77-of-170 with four TD's and nine interceptions as a freshman in 2003.
Edwards hails from nearly Los Gatos High School (Los Gatos, CA), where he led his team to a 26-0 record and back-to-back Central Coast Section Division III titles in his junior and senior seasons by combining for 5064 yards in the air during those two campaigns with 58 touchdown tosses and just seven interceptions.
Okwo was a two-time All-Pac-10 choice that finished his collegiate career at Stanford with 181 tackles (117 solo, 64 assists), 4.0 sacks, 15 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, two blocked kicks and an interception.
 Michael Okwo was taken by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft on Saturday  | |
Okwo was Stanford's Most Valuable Player and a First Team All-Pac-10 selection for the second time in his career as a senior in 2006 when he led the Cardinal and ranked second in the conference with 95 total tackles, as well as tied for 15th in the country with a 9.56 tackle per game average despite missing the first two games of the season with a broken thumb. Okwo also led the team with 57 solo stops and ranked 14th nationally with an average of 5.70 per contest. Okwo added two forced fumbles, 2.0 sacks, 5.0 tackles-for-loss and five pass breakups as a senior. He was named a 2006 Preseason Second Team All-Pac-10 choice by The Sporting News prior to the season. In addition, he won Stanford's Most Valuable Player honors and the Jack Huston Award, which is given annually to the player exemplifying aggressiveness, exceptional performance and unheralded efforts.
Okwo managed to make 34 tackles (26 solo, eight assists) in an injury-plagued 2005 junior campaign with 5.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.0 sacks and an interception.
He was productive as a sophomore in 2004 when he was recognized by the Pac-10 as a First Team selection in special teams and by his teammates as the squad's top defensive special teams player of the year to win the Phil Moffat Award. He finished the 2004 season with 39 tackles, 4.0 tackles-for-loss, four pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt.
Okwo appeared in all 11 games as a true freshman in 2003, recording 13 tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss and one blocked kick.
He came to Stanford from Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach, CA), where he earned prep All-American honors and totaled 130 tackles as well as 7.0 sacks.
The second day of the two-day 2007 NFL Draft will be held on Sunday.